Friday, October 25, 2013

I'm in the mood to shop. There, I said it, but I'm also in a rather cheap state, so currently my retail therapy is consisting of finding things I might like to own but may not fork over the dollars for right this minute. But soon, I hope.

My attention is on leggings right now; they seem like a relatively low-cost way to get something new and surprising into my wardrobe. Note - I would NEVER EVER EVER wear leggings as pants. It is a look that I abhor. I could go on, but suffice it to say, many women do not know the meaning of "opaque," much to their detriment.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

I used my pressure canner (what I call the time machine since it looks a little like it came from the '60s TV show Lost in Space) to make it shelf stable. For you pressure canner users, I used 10lbs of pressure for 20 minutes. Works like a charm. I'm over freezing stock in glass jars. Lately, even when filled with an inch or so of headroom, I get cracks. A little frozen flat in ziploc bags isn't bad, but I have more shelf space than freezer space.

Friday, October 4, 2013

I can't tell if it's because I managed to get nine hours of sleep the other night or the crazy shift from Indian Summer to October rain or the fact that I still haven't been able to finish unpacking (from recent trips, from Europe, from reno), but I am having the hardest time doing much of anything today. (Full disclosure: I did revise a syllabus, making six weeks into five, and edited some work for a friend this morning, but after I couldn't find my goggles to go swimming, it was all over.)

I also had a little actual retail therapy - a wicker basket for my folding bike - but I won't get it for another month.

Cherry stain, not the pinkwash or whitewash. I went classic with this one (although now I'm wondering whether I should've ordered the smaller one...)

I'm going to marshal my energies and make the Cook's Illustrated Best French Onion Soup. It's about my speed for the day - hours of onions cooking in the oven. But it's hard to get going when Gwendolyn is conked out on my lap. It'd be a shame to move her now.